Bezos hands out against Musk at NASA moon mission
Jeff Bezos still wants to jump on the moon landing train. (Photo: Blue Origin)
Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin apparently do not want to accept the NASA decision in favor of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s Starship is “immensely complex and risky,” said Bezos.
In April, the US space agency Nasa awarded SpaceX the contract to build a lunar module for its Artemis mission. A complaint from Jeff Bezos – on behalf of his space company Blue Origin – against this decision was rejected by the US audit office GOA (Government Accountability Office) only last week. But Bezos and Blue Origin can apparently not come to terms with the rejection of the objection – he criticizes the SpaceX rocket Starship, which is to be used in a modified form as a lunar module.
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Blue Origin versus SpaceX
In one on Wednesday on the Blue Origin website published infographic the Starship is described as “immensely complex and risky”. Incidentally, the Bezos company is referring to a criticism by NASA officials as part of the assessment of the Starship rocket for the lunar landing program, such as CNBC reports. According to Blue Origin: Starship has to deal with an “unprecedented number of technologies, developments and operations” that have never been seen before on a moon landing.
Blue Origin compares itself to SpaceX. (Infographic: Blue Origin)
With the Starship concept, the rocket must be refueled in orbit – there has not yet been such an action. In addition, according to the SpaceX plan, the Starship would have to take off more than ten times to ultimately land on the moon. Blue Origin only needs three starts. Another advantage that Blue Origin sees in its planned lunar module over the SpaceX Starship concerns the size. While the astronauts on the Starship would have to be brought on board in an elevator, a ladder would be sufficient for the Blue Origin aircraft.
Unsuccessful challenge to the NASA decision
The main point of criticism from Blue Origin about the award of the contract by NASA is that – contrary to what was initially announced – only one company had been selected. For the Bezos company, this means a significant risk to the success of the mission. However, the Court of Auditors had given the green light for the NASA decision. Ultimately, SpaceX prevailed with by far the cheapest and at the same time the most extensive range. Blue Origin and the third competitor Dynetics, on the other hand, were too expensive to get a chance.
